They were saying that snakes could no longer be trusted. They were saying that they were too cold-blooded, too sly. And, along with snakes, they were saying that I, Salazar Slytherin, could no longer be trusted.
My goals were set too high, according to the others. Purebloods were not allowed to be superior. In their eyes, everyone was equal. And so I left the great foursome, the brilliant group of friends who had founded Hogwarts and opened it to witches and wizards.
I was angry at Godric, who had been my friend for as long as I could remember. He was the bravest of us, and should have been courageous enough to try something new. He should have been loyal enough to stand by my side even as others, the peasants, shunned me. But for all his bravery, he had failed me.
I was angry at Rowena, who was the one among us four with cleverness. She was highly intelligent, and should have seen that my plans would only benefit us. But, smart as she was, her mind was not open to new and different ideas.
Helga, too, had placed herself in the path of my anger. Helga, who knew what it was to put your entire soul into something you believed in. Helga, who knew what it was to work hard. But, if Rowena was blind to new ideas, Helga was blind to blood status. She was willing to accept Muggleborns into our school. And so she lost her position as my friend, for her love of Mudbloods.
This anger directed at my three greatest friends had awakened new emotions in me. The lies between us had spawned spite, the spite had given birth to envy, and the envy had inspired greatness to rise within me. This aspiration for greatness was like a great snake, raising its poisonous head far above my other aspirations. I was already considered one of the greatest wizards of the ages, but I wanted more. I wanted to be the greatest wizard of all time, and to do so, I would need power.
I had magical power enough to put me above the rest, even Godric, but I lacked the power that would allow me to hold someone in my control. I lacked the merciless cruelty that would help me gain control and power. But cruelty, like so many other things, could be easily learned.
I could speak to snakes, control their minds, but this was nothing next to controlling humans. The desire was great, the spark of inspiration was already burning and glowing, ready to burst into a roaring fire and set all in its path aflame. I would need something, anything, to mark my house as most noble, most pure.
I could not have a sword, for Godric had one already, one he had so bravely dueled for. I could not copy Helga and have a chalice, which she had been awarded for her hard work. Alas, I could not even have myself a crown, as a king should, for Rowena had already made herself a tiara. And so, I decided, I would have a locket. It would be of gold, with emeralds forming my initial. And to make it truly my own, truly an object of Slytherin, I would have it open only to those who knew Parseltongue. My heirs would be the only ones to ever open the locket.
But where to get a locket so beautiful, I did not know.
I did not want a human to make my locket. They were so east to control, to strike fear into. And then it came to me. Goblins. The keepers of Gringotts could craft beautiful things of silver and gold. They were hard to convince as well. It would be a test of my skills, would provide a process of actually getting the locket that would make it worthy of Salazar Slytherin. The locket would have a real meaning then.
With investigation and hard work, I figured out a plot, a plan that would get the locket and control I sought. It would not be simple, and I would need bravery, a quality that I had never been able to boast of having.
The day came when I set out to get that which I desired. My entrance at Gringotts was a grand one. The wizards there scurried out at the sight of me, bowing low in their fear. The power I felt lifted my spirits, made me feel as if I had already accomplished something great.
Getting a goblin on his own was simple enough, but getting one to show me his workshop was an entirely different matter. I had planned thoroughly however, and had come with precious stones. The greed on the goblin's face was evident, and I promised to reward him if he simply took me to his work place. Once there it was a simple matter of torture. I discovered that I had to mean it, had to really want to torture another being, in order for the Cruciatus curse to work properly. And I did mean it. In a short span of time, I had had my first lesson in cruelty.
His mind weakened, the goblin had been easy to control. I felt such power in having control, relished in the feeling that made my head spin with ideas of greatness. The locket was made and received through force, and made it all the more beautiful. Upon the gold I had a few lines engraved—
Greatness inspires envy, envy engenders spite, spite spawns lies.
Those words were to remind me of everything I had done, they were there for the future generation to learn what greatness was.
When I put the locket round my neck, it was heavy. It seemed to have an aura, as if the gold had been tinged with evil. This made me feel powerful when I wore it. The dark force within the locket throbbed like a pulse, filling my mind with fresh ideas of what I could do to become the greatest wizard of all time.
I could not, however, get one idea from my mind. It was not an idea of cruelty or evil, but instead, one of friendship and remembrance. I had the urge to remember my friends, who had helped me so often. In truth, they had even helped me gain the locket I so treasured.
Rowena had inspired me to study the way of goblins, and so I'd learned how to get on the better side of a goblin. Helga had taught me to put myself into my work, to try my hardest, and so I had tried again and again, and finally earned entrance to a goblin's mind. And Godric had taught me of bravery and courage, and so I had—even just for an instant—finally possessed the quality that Godric had always had and I hadn't. I had been brave, and had fulfilled my wishes.
Into the locket, I placed the only existing picture of the four great founders of Hogwarts. From behind the window of the locket, I saw the faces of my friends. No matter how much I wanted to locket to be my own first act of greatness, it wasn't.
Helga, Rowena, and Godric had helped me achieve my goals—though they knew it not.
And that made the locket all the more meaningful.